2 Ayyam-i-Ha 162 B.E. February 26-27, 2006 A.D.
It is morning and the house is quiet, still after a long nights sleep. I wake listening to the silence for indications that I am not alone. I hear nothing, but I feel the tranquility of being alone. I am alone with my thoughts, realizing that since I went to bed early I woke up early as well. I get up without turning on the light, find cloths to put on (hoping that at least everything coordinates) and get dressed. I find my prayer beads and go into the dining room, to see what time it is and the clock reads 12:05.
It is morning and the house is still, so I go into the living room and turn on the computer. Then while it is booting, I go into the bathroom, wash my hands, face, and return to the living room. I sit down in my desk chair, take my prayer beads and face east. I begin chanting the Greatest Name ninety-five times using the prayer beads to count. Why do I turn on the computer before chanting? The reason is not quite clear to me, but this is what I did this morning. Maybe chanting God’s Greatest Name helps me to remember the dream, I had last night. Maybe it is just the silence and tranquility in the house around me, but I chant before doing any actual work or getting online.
It is morning and the house is hushed, I write about the dream I had last night or was it before I woke up. The dream, called The Wire Figure Man, was intriguing and memorable; I posted in in my writing.com blog. It was a color dream that played like a movie, I was not in the dream, but rather I was the audience watching the dream. I classified the dream as a science fiction movie.
It is morning and the house is silent, I pick up my prayer book. This morning I am scattering my prayers between bouts of writing. I have never tried this approach before, so I well see how it goes. I do know that I have a tendency to focus on continuing to write without pause and this is not conducive to my creativity. I am much more creative when I insert my bouts of writing between other activities.
It is morning and the house is soundless, the background noises do not interfere with my morning meditations so it is as if they are not here. Lion is being a pest; he does not understand why I am up so early. He did not have to wake me up this morning I awoke on my own. Lion wants only stroking and the silence in the house enhances his purr.
It is morning and the house is noiseless, Lion has gone off to lie down. I am sitting alone at the computer contemplating turning up the heat because it is getting a bit chilly. I think I will turn up the heat and while I am doing that get a bottle of water. I am thirsty; I have taken the last sip of water out of the bottle sitting on the stand by my computer desk.
It is morning and the house is silent, sounds like a good title for a poem. Actually, this whole piece looks and feels as if it could be a prose poem. If that is the case, I am going to have to rewrite it eventually. However, at this point I am going to leave it as if it is and post it. It is now 2:00 a.m. PST.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
The First Day of Ayyam-i-Ha
1 Ayyam-i-Ha 162 B.E. February 25-26, 2006 A.D.
On the first day of Ayyam-i-Ha, I went to Spiritual Services at the Baha’i Center in Las Vegas. The Sunrise Manor Study Circle planned today’s service and the Las Vegas Baha’i Choir sing accompanied by a pianist. The subject of the spiritual service was the Fast and everyone who attended received a gift from the Study Circle that planned the services. The gift that everyone received was a Meditation Journal For the Fast.
The Sunrise Manor (one of the nine townships in Las Vegas) created and printed the meditation journal. The journal consists of a front and back cover, the back cover has a picture of a sunrise shining through clouds. The front cover has a Fast Prayer and the title of the journal. Inside are nineteen pages with a quote from the Baha’i scriptures at the top and seventeen blank lines to write down your thoughts. On the twentieth page is a longer Fast Prayer revealed by Baha’u’llah.
I will begin the meditation journal on the morning of March 2 when the Fast begins. I am looking forward to Fast, it is a spiritual time, a time for reflection, it occurs in the last month of year and after the fast then Naw-Ruz is celebrated. I am looking forward to celebrating Naw-Ruz on the evening of March 20. In fact, I am looking forward to the coming year.
On the first day of Ayyam-i-Ha, I went to Spiritual Services at the Baha’i Center in Las Vegas. The Sunrise Manor Study Circle planned today’s service and the Las Vegas Baha’i Choir sing accompanied by a pianist. The subject of the spiritual service was the Fast and everyone who attended received a gift from the Study Circle that planned the services. The gift that everyone received was a Meditation Journal For the Fast.
The Sunrise Manor (one of the nine townships in Las Vegas) created and printed the meditation journal. The journal consists of a front and back cover, the back cover has a picture of a sunrise shining through clouds. The front cover has a Fast Prayer and the title of the journal. Inside are nineteen pages with a quote from the Baha’i scriptures at the top and seventeen blank lines to write down your thoughts. On the twentieth page is a longer Fast Prayer revealed by Baha’u’llah.
I will begin the meditation journal on the morning of March 2 when the Fast begins. I am looking forward to Fast, it is a spiritual time, a time for reflection, it occurs in the last month of year and after the fast then Naw-Ruz is celebrated. I am looking forward to celebrating Naw-Ruz on the evening of March 20. In fact, I am looking forward to the coming year.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Bringing Myself to Account
19 Mulk 162 B.E. February 24-25, 2006 A.D.
In The Hidden Words Baha’u’llah says: “O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.” (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words # 31). This quote came to mind this morning when I checked my yahoo e-mail account and saw the prompt title (Weekly Achievements, 2/25/2006, 12:00 am) from the Sterling Quill journaling group. What brought the quote to my mind when I saw the prompt title is this: Last night, before I went to bed, a friend called with the news that another friend had died and her funeral would be today at 10:00 a.m.
Contemplating the two events I realized that I need to look closer at bringing myself to account. Often I look at the material goals and the writing goals I have set for the week and consider whether or not I have achieved them. However, there spiritual goals that I set for myself each day and week as well. I do not write these spiritual goals down because sometimes I do not (or at least tell myself) I do not know how to put them into words. However, the spiritual goals need writing down in concrete terms of actions; the reason if I can not write the goal in concrete terms how do I know if I have achieved that goal.
Since I did not write the spiritual goals in concrete terms last Sunday, I can not really tell if I achieved them. I think I may have achieved the spiritual goals, but without knowing what actions were to indicate achievement I am unable to tell for certain. This coming week I will down the spiritual goal and the action that indicates I have achieved that goal. This brings me to another thought, my writing goal is to write between 6,000 and 8,000 words a day. I have not been putting down the concrete actions that would indicate I achieved that goal either. So before I post the goals for the upcoming week, I need to set concrete terms that would indicate achievement of those goals.
In The Hidden Words Baha’u’llah says: “O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.” (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words # 31). This quote came to mind this morning when I checked my yahoo e-mail account and saw the prompt title (Weekly Achievements, 2/25/2006, 12:00 am) from the Sterling Quill journaling group. What brought the quote to my mind when I saw the prompt title is this: Last night, before I went to bed, a friend called with the news that another friend had died and her funeral would be today at 10:00 a.m.
Contemplating the two events I realized that I need to look closer at bringing myself to account. Often I look at the material goals and the writing goals I have set for the week and consider whether or not I have achieved them. However, there spiritual goals that I set for myself each day and week as well. I do not write these spiritual goals down because sometimes I do not (or at least tell myself) I do not know how to put them into words. However, the spiritual goals need writing down in concrete terms of actions; the reason if I can not write the goal in concrete terms how do I know if I have achieved that goal.
Since I did not write the spiritual goals in concrete terms last Sunday, I can not really tell if I achieved them. I think I may have achieved the spiritual goals, but without knowing what actions were to indicate achievement I am unable to tell for certain. This coming week I will down the spiritual goal and the action that indicates I have achieved that goal. This brings me to another thought, my writing goal is to write between 6,000 and 8,000 words a day. I have not been putting down the concrete actions that would indicate I achieved that goal either. So before I post the goals for the upcoming week, I need to set concrete terms that would indicate achievement of those goals.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Deciding what to wear to an Ayyam-i-Ha Party
18 Mulk 162 B.E. February 23-24, 2006 A.D.
At sunset, on the evening of February 25, Ayyam-i-Ha begins. The evening of February 26 and February 28, we (my mother and me) will be attending Ayyam-i-Ha parties at the Baha’i Center in Las Vegas. I am looking forward to the party, but I have not decided what I am going to wear. I have plenty of cloths, the problem is deciding what to ware, and normally I wait until close to the time of a party to decide, but this year I think I will pick out the dress I want to wear tomorrow. This is a new tactic for me, with the exception of Naw-Ruz when I decide a few days ahead, I usually just ware whatever dress or skirt I grab out of the closet.
I have never been a person to think too far ahead when it comes to what I am going to wear any place. It just that I think I am in a rut and looking for ways to get out of the rut. If I change how I pick out the dress I wear to one party, that will go a long way to getting me out of my rut. I can still think of things to write about, so my rut is not very bad right now, but I need to make some changes before I get a case of writers’ block. If I am in a rut very long, I get writers’ block and cannot write anything.
Anyway, back to deciding what to wear. I need to pick our dresses for three upcoming events. The first is the Ayyam-i-Ha party on February 26; I am going to wear the red dress with the flower design. The second is the Ayyam-i-Ha party on February 28 and the third is Naw-Ruz. I need to decide on one outfit right now, the dress for the other two events I can decide on later. The red dress will look good with the black shoes, I will have to find a purse to go with the outfit or just carry my driver’s license and ID because the purse I carry all the time will not go with the outfit I have chosen.
At sunset, on the evening of February 25, Ayyam-i-Ha begins. The evening of February 26 and February 28, we (my mother and me) will be attending Ayyam-i-Ha parties at the Baha’i Center in Las Vegas. I am looking forward to the party, but I have not decided what I am going to wear. I have plenty of cloths, the problem is deciding what to ware, and normally I wait until close to the time of a party to decide, but this year I think I will pick out the dress I want to wear tomorrow. This is a new tactic for me, with the exception of Naw-Ruz when I decide a few days ahead, I usually just ware whatever dress or skirt I grab out of the closet.
I have never been a person to think too far ahead when it comes to what I am going to wear any place. It just that I think I am in a rut and looking for ways to get out of the rut. If I change how I pick out the dress I wear to one party, that will go a long way to getting me out of my rut. I can still think of things to write about, so my rut is not very bad right now, but I need to make some changes before I get a case of writers’ block. If I am in a rut very long, I get writers’ block and cannot write anything.
Anyway, back to deciding what to wear. I need to pick our dresses for three upcoming events. The first is the Ayyam-i-Ha party on February 26; I am going to wear the red dress with the flower design. The second is the Ayyam-i-Ha party on February 28 and the third is Naw-Ruz. I need to decide on one outfit right now, the dress for the other two events I can decide on later. The red dress will look good with the black shoes, I will have to find a purse to go with the outfit or just carry my driver’s license and ID because the purse I carry all the time will not go with the outfit I have chosen.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Thankful Thursday
17 Mulk 162 B.E. February 22-23, 2006 A.D.
In one of my Yahoo journaling groups, this is Thankful Thursday. The prompt for today is to list ten things you are thankful for; this is a repeating prompt that occurs every Thursday. The question in my mind this morning is, not so much what I am thankful for, but how do I cut that list down to only ten items. There are so many things in the world that causes one to give thanks. Among the prayers revealed by The Bab and Baha’u’llah and written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha there are numerous prayers of praise and gratitude.
In the Baha’i Prayer Book prayers for Praise and Gratitude are listed under the same heading. This is understandable, at least from my point of view, since when one gives praise to God one is thanking God of all occurs in one’s life. Gratitude or thanksgiving is an ability one can practice everyday. No matter what events occur in one’s life, whether that events are good, bad or indifferent, there is always something for which to give thanks. So often human beings look at the bad stuff that happens and sees nothing but darkness and despair, however, no matter how dark or dispirit the situation in one’s life there is always a bright spot in one’s day.
True sometimes one has to look for the bright spot. Sometimes the only bright one can see is dawn’s sunlight turning the bark on the stone pines in the front yard golden, but that is a bright spot to focus upon and it may be the only bright spot in an entire day. I’m not saying that there isn’t tests and difficulties, but rather than worrying about the tests and difficulties look at the joy and happiness. When one focuses on the darkness all that a person sees is darkness, but when one focuses on the light or even looks at or for the light then one usually sees the light.
So now I come back the ten items or events that I am thankful for this week. What do I put down? First, I am thankful that when the sun rises over Frenchman’s or Sunrise Mountain (I live in Las Vegas over twenty years and I still not sure if that is two different mountains or one mountain with two names) it turns the bark of the stone pines and the olive tree in my front yard golden. Second, I am thankful for hearing the healing message of Baha’u’llah, while there have been and still are time when I think I can not do anything right, the one thing I know that I did right was accept Baha’u’llah. Third, the prayers revealed by Baha’u’llah because not matter what the situation in my life and the world around me there is always a prayer covering the situation. Fourth, the ability to write poetry, if I cannot say how I feel in any other way I can put it in verse form. Fifth, the test and difficulties that have occurred in my life which have helped me develop my talents and God given abilities. Sixth, the tests and difficulties that will occur in t my life (same reason as number five). Seventh, my cats that cause me to laugh at least once a day. Eight, my friends because without their prayers and emotional support I am not sure I could get through the day. Ninth, the medical study I am participating in right now that gives me free medication. Tenth, my mother (who is still in this world) because without her (and my father, of course) my soul would not have the chance to develop its abilities in the material realm.
In one of my Yahoo journaling groups, this is Thankful Thursday. The prompt for today is to list ten things you are thankful for; this is a repeating prompt that occurs every Thursday. The question in my mind this morning is, not so much what I am thankful for, but how do I cut that list down to only ten items. There are so many things in the world that causes one to give thanks. Among the prayers revealed by The Bab and Baha’u’llah and written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha there are numerous prayers of praise and gratitude.
In the Baha’i Prayer Book prayers for Praise and Gratitude are listed under the same heading. This is understandable, at least from my point of view, since when one gives praise to God one is thanking God of all occurs in one’s life. Gratitude or thanksgiving is an ability one can practice everyday. No matter what events occur in one’s life, whether that events are good, bad or indifferent, there is always something for which to give thanks. So often human beings look at the bad stuff that happens and sees nothing but darkness and despair, however, no matter how dark or dispirit the situation in one’s life there is always a bright spot in one’s day.
True sometimes one has to look for the bright spot. Sometimes the only bright one can see is dawn’s sunlight turning the bark on the stone pines in the front yard golden, but that is a bright spot to focus upon and it may be the only bright spot in an entire day. I’m not saying that there isn’t tests and difficulties, but rather than worrying about the tests and difficulties look at the joy and happiness. When one focuses on the darkness all that a person sees is darkness, but when one focuses on the light or even looks at or for the light then one usually sees the light.
So now I come back the ten items or events that I am thankful for this week. What do I put down? First, I am thankful that when the sun rises over Frenchman’s or Sunrise Mountain (I live in Las Vegas over twenty years and I still not sure if that is two different mountains or one mountain with two names) it turns the bark of the stone pines and the olive tree in my front yard golden. Second, I am thankful for hearing the healing message of Baha’u’llah, while there have been and still are time when I think I can not do anything right, the one thing I know that I did right was accept Baha’u’llah. Third, the prayers revealed by Baha’u’llah because not matter what the situation in my life and the world around me there is always a prayer covering the situation. Fourth, the ability to write poetry, if I cannot say how I feel in any other way I can put it in verse form. Fifth, the test and difficulties that have occurred in my life which have helped me develop my talents and God given abilities. Sixth, the tests and difficulties that will occur in t my life (same reason as number five). Seventh, my cats that cause me to laugh at least once a day. Eight, my friends because without their prayers and emotional support I am not sure I could get through the day. Ninth, the medical study I am participating in right now that gives me free medication. Tenth, my mother (who is still in this world) because without her (and my father, of course) my soul would not have the chance to develop its abilities in the material realm.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Three Dreams
15 Mulk 162 B.E. February 20-21, 2006 A.D.
Intriguing is the word for the day, or at least the dreams I had last night. Periodically I sleep and wake up several times over the night because of dreams and then go back to sleep again. Another fascinating aspect about my dreams is that I dream in color and I know I am dreaming during my dream experience. In addition, I repeat dreams over a night, a week, a month or a year. Last night I repeated three different dream three times during the night.
One of the dreams (I think this was the first dream) had to do with music, in the dream people were playing bells or ringing bells. The bells sounded small and melodic and the song they were playing was familiar to me, but I am not sure of the name. The tune sounded like a song I have heard the Las Vegas Baha’i Choir sing at the Baha’i Center during spiritual services. Each time I had this dream last night or perhaps I should say early this morning, because I did not get to bed until after midnight, the bells were playing the same song. Another interesting thing about this dream is that the bells resembled the voices of people singing more then bells ringing.
In the second dream, there were light rainbows of light dancing through my dream. The light illuminated the pages of a book and sheets of various colored paper. There were words on the pages of the book, I do not remember what the words said; I just know there were words on the book’s pages. The paper had pictures and drawing of different buildings, one of the buildings on the paper was the Baha’i Temple under constructed in Chili while the other pictures show other Baha’i Temples in different parts of the world. In addition, there were papers with drawings of other religious structures and symbols.
In the third dream, a group of people were laughing, playing and walking through the streets of a city. The members of the group wore various colors and styles of clothing and their skin tones reflected every color of human skin tone in the world. I am not sure what the group was doing, when some approached the group and ask a question a person in the group answered the question. In addition, if someone approached the group wanting something i.e. money, food, water etc. someone in the group gave whatever was wanted or needed without asking a question or wanting any type of remittance in return.
Each of these dream repeated three times during the night. I went to sleep, a dream woke me up, I laid in bed thinking about the dream and then went back to sleep. This is how the night went, I woke up this early morning (despite the fact I did not get to bed until after midnight) feeling refreshed, happy and unworried. I feel as if I had eight hours of sleep rather than just four or five hours of sleep.
Intriguing is the word for the day, or at least the dreams I had last night. Periodically I sleep and wake up several times over the night because of dreams and then go back to sleep again. Another fascinating aspect about my dreams is that I dream in color and I know I am dreaming during my dream experience. In addition, I repeat dreams over a night, a week, a month or a year. Last night I repeated three different dream three times during the night.
One of the dreams (I think this was the first dream) had to do with music, in the dream people were playing bells or ringing bells. The bells sounded small and melodic and the song they were playing was familiar to me, but I am not sure of the name. The tune sounded like a song I have heard the Las Vegas Baha’i Choir sing at the Baha’i Center during spiritual services. Each time I had this dream last night or perhaps I should say early this morning, because I did not get to bed until after midnight, the bells were playing the same song. Another interesting thing about this dream is that the bells resembled the voices of people singing more then bells ringing.
In the second dream, there were light rainbows of light dancing through my dream. The light illuminated the pages of a book and sheets of various colored paper. There were words on the pages of the book, I do not remember what the words said; I just know there were words on the book’s pages. The paper had pictures and drawing of different buildings, one of the buildings on the paper was the Baha’i Temple under constructed in Chili while the other pictures show other Baha’i Temples in different parts of the world. In addition, there were papers with drawings of other religious structures and symbols.
In the third dream, a group of people were laughing, playing and walking through the streets of a city. The members of the group wore various colors and styles of clothing and their skin tones reflected every color of human skin tone in the world. I am not sure what the group was doing, when some approached the group and ask a question a person in the group answered the question. In addition, if someone approached the group wanting something i.e. money, food, water etc. someone in the group gave whatever was wanted or needed without asking a question or wanting any type of remittance in return.
Each of these dream repeated three times during the night. I went to sleep, a dream woke me up, I laid in bed thinking about the dream and then went back to sleep. This is how the night went, I woke up this early morning (despite the fact I did not get to bed until after midnight) feeling refreshed, happy and unworried. I feel as if I had eight hours of sleep rather than just four or five hours of sleep.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Individual Potential
14 Mulk 162 B.E. February 19-20, 2006 A.D.
I am a unique individual, I have my own path to walk through life, I have my own talents to develop and I can reflect the attributes of God in my own unique wavelengths. I am a human being walking my own path toward immortality. As I travel my path through the physical world, I encounter other unique human beings walking their own paths toward eternity.
The path I am traveling through the physical world carries me from conception to death and into the spiritual world beyond. On this path, I encounter difficulties and tests that develop my innate potential and talents and polish the mirror of my soul so that I can reflect the attributes of divinity. Sometimes I or other individuals I encounter in my journey towards God engender these tests and difficulties. Sometimes these tests and difficulties are gifts from God, blessing from the Divine Essence that created the universe.
I am responsible for the way I react to these tests and difficulties; I am experiencing these tests and difficulties from my own individual point of view. My point of view is different from the points of view of other people I encounter on my physical journey through this world, this material plain of existence. I am responsible for my own actions and emotional responses to the tests and difficulties or growing pains that occur during my travel on the material plain. Here, upon this material plain I have a choice, I can choose to develop my spiritual attributes or I can focus exclusive on acquiring material objects.
My spiritual attributes are like the wings of a butterfly, which allows the creature to ascend into the sky and fly from flower to flower. As I travel my path of material existence I choose develop my spiritual ability, which are the divine attributes, or I choose not to develop them. At the death of my physical body, when my soul ascends into the next world, all I will have are those spiritual abilities I have developed here on this plain of existence. Either any spiritual attribute I have not developed here I will receive from the Divine Essence or I will have to learn to do without.
My Thoughts on Developing My Individual Potential
I am a unique individual, I have my own path to walk through life, I have my own talents to develop and I can reflect the attributes of God in my own unique wavelengths. I am a human being walking my own path toward immortality. As I travel my path through the physical world, I encounter other unique human beings walking their own paths toward eternity.
The path I am traveling through the physical world carries me from conception to death and into the spiritual world beyond. On this path, I encounter difficulties and tests that develop my innate potential and talents and polish the mirror of my soul so that I can reflect the attributes of divinity. Sometimes I or other individuals I encounter in my journey towards God engender these tests and difficulties. Sometimes these tests and difficulties are gifts from God, blessing from the Divine Essence that created the universe.
I am responsible for the way I react to these tests and difficulties; I am experiencing these tests and difficulties from my own individual point of view. My point of view is different from the points of view of other people I encounter on my physical journey through this world, this material plain of existence. I am responsible for my own actions and emotional responses to the tests and difficulties or growing pains that occur during my travel on the material plain. Here, upon this material plain I have a choice, I can choose to develop my spiritual attributes or I can focus exclusive on acquiring material objects.
My spiritual attributes are like the wings of a butterfly, which allows the creature to ascend into the sky and fly from flower to flower. As I travel my path of material existence I choose develop my spiritual ability, which are the divine attributes, or I choose not to develop them. At the death of my physical body, when my soul ascends into the next world, all I will have are those spiritual abilities I have developed here on this plain of existence. Either any spiritual attribute I have not developed here I will receive from the Divine Essence or I will have to learn to do without.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Posting Is Journaling Too!
13 Mulk 162 B.E. February 18-19, 2006 A.D.
Posting Is Journaling Too!
Posting is journaling Too is the subject line of one of the reminder’s I that comes from the yahoo journalwriting group. The note that comes with this subject/prompt is as follows: “Did you remember to print your posts here in the group to prompts and other members questions? Often times some of my most insightful writing comes as a reply to something here in JournalWriting. Posting counts as journaling. Did you write something wonderful? Print it out and put it in your journal.” (JournalWriting Moderators)
I have learned more about the way I think and why I believe the way I do by writing and posting to both my journal and prompts groups and my blogs than I have ever learned before. Responding to group posts helps me to focus my thoughts and write deep. To answer many of the posted prompts I have to look within to find the reason for my beliefs. I have also learned to type faster, to think while I am typing a response rather than thinking about the response before I type it into the word processor. I respond to many of the prompts by free writing for a specific period of time. The time limit I usually give myself is 10, 20, or 30 minutes. This helps me to get to the meat of the subject quickly and prevents me from editing while I type. If editing is necessary it can be edited later.
I still have a long way to go when I am typing responses to the prompts, but as I respond both my thinking process and my writing improves. I responding to post better than simply writing in a pen and paper journal. When I use a word processor it catches the bad spelling and if I spell a word phonically then the word processor can give me the proper word, this means when I go back to rewrite I do not have to speculate about the word I meant. The prompts help me to know myself and there is a weekly prompt that forces me to account for goals I have set for the week. True one is supposed to bring himself to account each day, which I do but with the prompts I am forced to write down (at least once a week) what I accomplished and how I can do better in the coming week.
Answering prompts is a creative expression and something I look forward to doing. In addition the prompts give me something to post to my blogs when I am having an attack of writer’s block or my inner critic is being particularly difficult. I have found that the fast I time the less chance my inner critic has to interrupt, writing in a pen and paper journal is different. When I write in my pen and paper journal my inner critic is always interrupting me. Blogging and responding to group prompts has given me ideas for stories, poems, essays and other bad habits I need to work on and explore.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Cleaning Out My E-Mail Box
12 Mulk 162 B.E. February 17-18, 2006 A.D.
As I was looking at my e-mail today, I realized I had not cleaned out one of my e-mail boxes in about a week. What this means is that I have sever old e-mails taking up space in my e-mail box and on my computer (I am referring to the e-mail that I can exclusively access at home). Actually I have 1,023 unread e-mails in my inbox, some of those e-mails I want to read and some I do not. So I am going to have to clean out my e-mail box.
Now there are two ways I can go about this project. I can either spend the rest of the day cleaning out the e-mail box or I can do it a little bit at a time. I can go through the inbox and delete the stuff I know I don’t want to read or investigate and taking care of the items that must be taken care of immediately. Then over the next week I can check out the other and see if there is anything that I feel is necessary to investigate. No matter how I go about it, it is going to take a while and I do not want to interfere with other events that are just as important or more important then the e-mails in my inbox. OK, so this entire problem is my own fault and I would not have this problem if I took care of the e-mails that come in on a daily basis.
After thinking about this awhile, there appears to be a spiritual lesson here. Cleaning out the e-mail inbox is like bringing myself to account. If I want to overcome bad habits, change a habit or live according to Baha‘u‘llah‘s instructions, I need to work on it daily. Daily work on a problems means bring myself to account and looking at what I did that day then resolving and attempting to do better tomorrow. Most of the time when I bring myself to account, I do not writing anything in a journal. Maybe I need to start bringing myself to account in one of my journals on a daily basis. I start a spiritual journal at the beginning of Mulk, this last week I have not written anything in it perhaps I need to bring myself to account in that journal. A journal entry need only be one or two sentences on how I can do better in the future.
As I was looking at my e-mail today, I realized I had not cleaned out one of my e-mail boxes in about a week. What this means is that I have sever old e-mails taking up space in my e-mail box and on my computer (I am referring to the e-mail that I can exclusively access at home). Actually I have 1,023 unread e-mails in my inbox, some of those e-mails I want to read and some I do not. So I am going to have to clean out my e-mail box.
Now there are two ways I can go about this project. I can either spend the rest of the day cleaning out the e-mail box or I can do it a little bit at a time. I can go through the inbox and delete the stuff I know I don’t want to read or investigate and taking care of the items that must be taken care of immediately. Then over the next week I can check out the other and see if there is anything that I feel is necessary to investigate. No matter how I go about it, it is going to take a while and I do not want to interfere with other events that are just as important or more important then the e-mails in my inbox. OK, so this entire problem is my own fault and I would not have this problem if I took care of the e-mails that come in on a daily basis.
After thinking about this awhile, there appears to be a spiritual lesson here. Cleaning out the e-mail inbox is like bringing myself to account. If I want to overcome bad habits, change a habit or live according to Baha‘u‘llah‘s instructions, I need to work on it daily. Daily work on a problems means bring myself to account and looking at what I did that day then resolving and attempting to do better tomorrow. Most of the time when I bring myself to account, I do not writing anything in a journal. Maybe I need to start bringing myself to account in one of my journals on a daily basis. I start a spiritual journal at the beginning of Mulk, this last week I have not written anything in it perhaps I need to bring myself to account in that journal. A journal entry need only be one or two sentences on how I can do better in the future.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Interesting Dreams
10 Mulk 162 B.E. February 15-16, 2006 A.D.
I had an interesting dream last night or early this morning. The dream was about submitting one page story for publication in a magazine or to a contest. The dream did not reveal which magazine or contest to which I submitted the story. In the dream I saw a one page story, probably a piece of flash fiction, that I submitted. The fiction item was a mystery of some type. I woke up for a few minutes and had the same dream or a similar dream again and woke up again. The third time I had the dream, I woke up and got out of bed. This is the first time I have dreamed about seeing a one page story or, for that matter, any type of printed story in a dream.
In the past week I have had several interesting and puzzling dreams. In one dream, and this is one of those dreams that reoccurred when I went back to sleep, I was standing with a crowds of people in an airport, a bus station or a train depot (not sure which). The group of people I was standing with were Olympic athletes and we were going to some sort of Olympic events. I am not sure where we were going, but we were going to an Olympic event. My dreams are like this, when I dream of going someplace or traveling I never know my destination in the dream.
In another dream I was at my Grandparents farm, I walked to the barn to milk the cow and gather the eggs. I walked along a path that was bordered on each side by log type fences. That is the fences looked like thin round logs between two upright round posts and surrounded fields of green. When I got to the barn, its door closed and barred from the outside, I found I had forgotten the pale to hold the milk and the basket to hold the eggs. I turned around to go back to the farm house, which I could not see from where I was, I found that my way was barred by a huge spider and spider web. I turned around and found another exit from the barn area, but this exist was also blocked by a huge spider and web. In the distance I could see snow capped mountains, which looked either like the Rocky Mountains or the Alps.
Those are the dreams I remember having in the past week. It is unusual for me to have so many dreams in a single week that I remember on waking up. Throughout my life I have had other interesting and puzzling dreams. Sometimes I have had nightmares, but those are rare. Most of my dreams are not night mares, they are just puzzling and intriguing. Another interesting thing about my dreams is that most, if not all, of them are in color. I usually know that I am dreaming and on some occasions, especially when it comes to nightmares, I seem to be able to direct the dream.
I had an interesting dream last night or early this morning. The dream was about submitting one page story for publication in a magazine or to a contest. The dream did not reveal which magazine or contest to which I submitted the story. In the dream I saw a one page story, probably a piece of flash fiction, that I submitted. The fiction item was a mystery of some type. I woke up for a few minutes and had the same dream or a similar dream again and woke up again. The third time I had the dream, I woke up and got out of bed. This is the first time I have dreamed about seeing a one page story or, for that matter, any type of printed story in a dream.
In the past week I have had several interesting and puzzling dreams. In one dream, and this is one of those dreams that reoccurred when I went back to sleep, I was standing with a crowds of people in an airport, a bus station or a train depot (not sure which). The group of people I was standing with were Olympic athletes and we were going to some sort of Olympic events. I am not sure where we were going, but we were going to an Olympic event. My dreams are like this, when I dream of going someplace or traveling I never know my destination in the dream.
In another dream I was at my Grandparents farm, I walked to the barn to milk the cow and gather the eggs. I walked along a path that was bordered on each side by log type fences. That is the fences looked like thin round logs between two upright round posts and surrounded fields of green. When I got to the barn, its door closed and barred from the outside, I found I had forgotten the pale to hold the milk and the basket to hold the eggs. I turned around to go back to the farm house, which I could not see from where I was, I found that my way was barred by a huge spider and spider web. I turned around and found another exit from the barn area, but this exist was also blocked by a huge spider and web. In the distance I could see snow capped mountains, which looked either like the Rocky Mountains or the Alps.
Those are the dreams I remember having in the past week. It is unusual for me to have so many dreams in a single week that I remember on waking up. Throughout my life I have had other interesting and puzzling dreams. Sometimes I have had nightmares, but those are rare. Most of my dreams are not night mares, they are just puzzling and intriguing. Another interesting thing about my dreams is that most, if not all, of them are in color. I usually know that I am dreaming and on some occasions, especially when it comes to nightmares, I seem to be able to direct the dream.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
An Interesting Day And Uneventful Day
9 Mulk 162 B.E. February 14-15, 2006 A.D.
It’s been an interesting day and a windy day, there was a wind advisory which met that people with respiratory problems should stay in doors. I went out, had to go to Henderson this afternoon. The drive to Henderson was exciting, not that I had any problems going. We drove south on Eastern and turn left on Sunset Road. On the way traffic moved well, without any problems and I didn’t see any police cars or accidents. Traffic flowed well on Eastern.
By exciting I mean that the wind was blowing and carrying trash across the street. So I had to watch for things like palm leaves. There are a lot of desert palms in Las Vegas and most people don’t cut them, it’s a lot easier and cheaper to let the strong wind blow the dead leaves off. The leaves are large and resemble fans. Today was also trash day in my part of town, so what trash was put out blew across the road. Of course, a lot of people didn’t put out their trash because of the wind, but there was still trash blowing across Eastern in places, so you had to watch what was blowing across the street in front of you.
The route I traveled south on Eastern, took me (or perhaps I should say us because my mother went with me); anyway the route took us past McCarran airport. The sound of planes landing is quite loud and comforting in a way. I enjoy hear the noise of jet planes, it’s a nice sound for me a pleasant sound, which probably seems odd to a lot of people. But the sound of a plane landing brings back memories of seeing the Grand Canyon from the air in the day time and seeing New York from the air after dark.
It was really an uneventful day, even though it was an interesting drive to Henderson. I didn’t complain about the cost of the gas, I had to go to Henderson for only one errand and then come back home. I suppose I could have stopped and got coffee or at a grocery store, but I decided that I or rather we (my mother and I) decided that we would wait until Thursday and get coffee when we went to the poetry reading. You know I think there is a poetry reading Friday night as well as Thursday. Well any way that was my interesting and uneventful day.
It’s been an interesting day and a windy day, there was a wind advisory which met that people with respiratory problems should stay in doors. I went out, had to go to Henderson this afternoon. The drive to Henderson was exciting, not that I had any problems going. We drove south on Eastern and turn left on Sunset Road. On the way traffic moved well, without any problems and I didn’t see any police cars or accidents. Traffic flowed well on Eastern.
By exciting I mean that the wind was blowing and carrying trash across the street. So I had to watch for things like palm leaves. There are a lot of desert palms in Las Vegas and most people don’t cut them, it’s a lot easier and cheaper to let the strong wind blow the dead leaves off. The leaves are large and resemble fans. Today was also trash day in my part of town, so what trash was put out blew across the road. Of course, a lot of people didn’t put out their trash because of the wind, but there was still trash blowing across Eastern in places, so you had to watch what was blowing across the street in front of you.
The route I traveled south on Eastern, took me (or perhaps I should say us because my mother went with me); anyway the route took us past McCarran airport. The sound of planes landing is quite loud and comforting in a way. I enjoy hear the noise of jet planes, it’s a nice sound for me a pleasant sound, which probably seems odd to a lot of people. But the sound of a plane landing brings back memories of seeing the Grand Canyon from the air in the day time and seeing New York from the air after dark.
It was really an uneventful day, even though it was an interesting drive to Henderson. I didn’t complain about the cost of the gas, I had to go to Henderson for only one errand and then come back home. I suppose I could have stopped and got coffee or at a grocery store, but I decided that I or rather we (my mother and I) decided that we would wait until Thursday and get coffee when we went to the poetry reading. You know I think there is a poetry reading Friday night as well as Thursday. Well any way that was my interesting and uneventful day.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
A Multitude of Ways to Say I Love You
8 Mulk 162 B.E. February 13-14, 2006 A.D.
How do you say I love, there are a thousand different ways. Each language has its own phrase, each culture has its own ways, each religion has love message and each person has special ways. So let us take a moment and say I love you to someone, if your are not sure of the language or the appropriate way then write a greeting from your heart, perform an act of service for the person’s favorite charity, or read a verse from that person’s Holy Book.
There are a thousand different ways to say I love you. So take a moment or two to day and find someone to whom you can say in either actions or words: I love you!
May the muse of Valentine’s Day,
Give you the phrases to write or say,
May the Divine Essence give you someone
To write, say or send the I love you.
When seen through the eyes of love
The multitude names of God become a single phrase,
When seen through the eyes of the Divine
The difference of humanity become inconsequential
And the three onenesses echo through
The soul of the seeker and the mind of the lover.
Here is a website with the way I love you is said in many different languages: http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/rainbow/i-love-you.html. Just click on the title to today’s blog and it will take you to this site.
How To Say I Love You
How do you say I love, there are a thousand different ways. Each language has its own phrase, each culture has its own ways, each religion has love message and each person has special ways. So let us take a moment and say I love you to someone, if your are not sure of the language or the appropriate way then write a greeting from your heart, perform an act of service for the person’s favorite charity, or read a verse from that person’s Holy Book.
There are a thousand different ways to say I love you. So take a moment or two to day and find someone to whom you can say in either actions or words: I love you!
Valentine’s Day Blessing
May the muse of Valentine’s Day,
Give you the phrases to write or say,
May the Divine Essence give you someone
To write, say or send the I love you.
Valentine’s Day Poem
When seen through the eyes of love
The multitude names of God become a single phrase,
When seen through the eyes of the Divine
The difference of humanity become inconsequential
And the three onenesses echo through
The soul of the seeker and the mind of the lover.
Here is a website with the way I love you is said in many different languages: http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/rainbow/i-love-you.html. Just click on the title to today’s blog and it will take you to this site.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Finding Inspiration
7 Mulk 162 B.E. - February 12-13, 2006 A.D.
Where do I find inspiration? I find inspiration in the world around me, in the sacred writing of all the religions of humanity, in my past and my present. I find inspiration in the way a cat watches out a window. I find inspiration in the way the neighbor’s bobtailed black and white tom walks across my back yard and stops to watch my cats in the screen in back porch. I find inspiration in the morning sun and in the sunset. I find inspiration walking through a hotel going to a restaurant to eat or to see a show. I find inspiration driving down the city street. I find inspiration in the dream I have at night and in the day dreams while looking out a window. I find inspiration in the way the wind blows through an olive or a stone pine tree. I find inspiration in the events of my childhood and in the morning news.
Where do I find inspiration? Last week I found inspiration in the Sunday Devotional service I attended. The music for that service came from Philip Glass’ Symphony #5, that was the first time I heard Mr. Glass’ music. Last week I found inspiration in the feast I attended at the Baha’i Center. During the spiritual portion slides of Mount Carmel were shown while the scriptures were being read and the music was playing. Last week I found inspiration walking the four or five blocks from the parking garage to the Justice Center on Clark. Last week I found inspiration in the prompts sent to my e-mail box by the writing groups I am a member of. Last week I found inspiration in the subject lines of spam e-mails. Last week I found inspiration in the posts of other members of my yahoo writing groups.
Where do I find inspiration? I found inspiration in the Sunday Devotional Service my mother and I held on the back porch. There were only two of us there, so the service consisted of reading and prayers without any music, but I found inspiration anyway. I found inspiration in a quote from the Bhagavad-Gita:
“ The sovereign soul
Of him who lives self-governed and at peace
Is centred in itself, taking alike
Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame.”
(Bhagavadgita, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold, page 30).
I found inspiration in a quote from a prayer revealed by Baha’u’llah:
“AS MY TRIBULATIONS MULTIPLIED, so did My love for God and for His Cause increase, in such wise that all that befell Me from the hosts of the wayward was powerless to deter Me from My purpose…” (Call to Remembrance, page 235).
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Love An Attribute of God
6 Mulk 162 B.E. - February 11-12, 2006
Looking For The Signs of God
Baha’u’llah tells us that every created thing in the entire universe holds within it one of the attributes of God, while humanity is endowed with all the attributes of God. I wonder how often we look for the signs of the Divine Essence that is in creation. Sometimes it is clear what that attribute is because we can see the splendor or the glory or the beauty in an element of creation. At other times though it is difficult, for one reason or another, to see what which divine attribute is present, but just because we can not see a divine attribute does not mean the attribute is not there.
One of the attributes of God is love; indeed God is love. The universe is the results of God’s love. Humanity was created because of God’s love. The purpose of the individual is to know and love God. The way we love God is through our worship of the Divine Essence and our service to humanity.
The approach of Valentine’s Day has caused me to think a lot about love. On Valentine’s Day we do not often think of God, we think of love but not in its relationship to God. On and around Valentine’s Day we usually think of love in its relationship to another human being. However, the foundation of all love and affection on the Earth and in the universe is the love of God; the love of God for humanity and the love of humanity for the Divine Essence. All other love is a pale shadow of Divine Love.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Coping With My Biggest Struggle
2 Mulk 162 B.E. - February 7 - 8, 2006 A.D.
I cope with my biggest struggle through prayer, meditation and interrupting my own dreams. The prayers I use are those revealed by The Bab and Baha’u’llah and written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. These prayer cover every contingence in my life, while the feeling I get when reading them is calming. The prayers themselves have a spiritual feeling when read or recited aloud or silently. They speak directly to my soul. There are, of course, a few prayers that are my favorite, but these change over time and with the circumstances in my life. In fact my biggest struggle, while it is always with myself, changes over time as well; maybe that is why my favorite prayers change with time and circumstances.
Lately my biggest struggle is achieving the writing goals I set. Don’t get me wrong, I have improved in keeping those goal, but I am not to the point where I want to be. The prayers I’ve been saying lately are the obligatory prayer (revealed by Baha‘u‘llah, a healing prayer, one (written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha placing everything in God’s hands), the Remover of Difficulties (revealed by the Bab), and a prayer for protection when I leave the house. There is a morning prayer (revealed by Baha’u’llah) with the line “I beseech Thee, … to make of what Thou didst reveal …” (Baha’i Prayers, pages 124-126) that I say before writing in my pen and paper journal about my dreams.
I interpret my own dreams because they are my dreams and I know the symbols in them better than anyone else. While certain dream symbols have traditional or cultural interpretations they also have personal interpretations (at least mine do) and I am the only one who can tell what those symbols mean to me. My dreams (or at least those that stay with me for a long period of time) usually hold something that helps me in my struggle to become my true self. I interpret my own dream in my pen and paper journal so that they can help me achieve my true potential.
In fact I am considering writing down the symbols in my dreams into a personal dream dictionary. In this personal dream dictionary I would write a paragraph or two about the traditional or cultural meaning of the symbol and then write a paragraph about what the symbol means to me. Of course, as I said before lately my biggest struggle has been my writing goals, I seem to get interrupted in the middle or writing or have to leave the house for some reason. I take my pen and paper journal with me, but when I write in it (with the exception of my dreams) the subject is different from what I was writing about on-line or in an entry into the journal I keep on the computer.
Anyway, as I was saying, when I go to interpret my dreams I write the dream or as much of it as I can remember in my pen and paper journal. After that I say a prayer and then I meditate on what the dream might mean. I write down what I think it means in my pep and paper journal. This helps me to determine what the dream and their symbols mean to me.
I cope with my biggest struggle through prayer, meditation and interrupting my own dreams. The prayers I use are those revealed by The Bab and Baha’u’llah and written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. These prayer cover every contingence in my life, while the feeling I get when reading them is calming. The prayers themselves have a spiritual feeling when read or recited aloud or silently. They speak directly to my soul. There are, of course, a few prayers that are my favorite, but these change over time and with the circumstances in my life. In fact my biggest struggle, while it is always with myself, changes over time as well; maybe that is why my favorite prayers change with time and circumstances.
Lately my biggest struggle is achieving the writing goals I set. Don’t get me wrong, I have improved in keeping those goal, but I am not to the point where I want to be. The prayers I’ve been saying lately are the obligatory prayer (revealed by Baha‘u‘llah, a healing prayer, one (written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha placing everything in God’s hands), the Remover of Difficulties (revealed by the Bab), and a prayer for protection when I leave the house. There is a morning prayer (revealed by Baha’u’llah) with the line “I beseech Thee, … to make of what Thou didst reveal …” (Baha’i Prayers, pages 124-126) that I say before writing in my pen and paper journal about my dreams.
I interpret my own dreams because they are my dreams and I know the symbols in them better than anyone else. While certain dream symbols have traditional or cultural interpretations they also have personal interpretations (at least mine do) and I am the only one who can tell what those symbols mean to me. My dreams (or at least those that stay with me for a long period of time) usually hold something that helps me in my struggle to become my true self. I interpret my own dream in my pen and paper journal so that they can help me achieve my true potential.
In fact I am considering writing down the symbols in my dreams into a personal dream dictionary. In this personal dream dictionary I would write a paragraph or two about the traditional or cultural meaning of the symbol and then write a paragraph about what the symbol means to me. Of course, as I said before lately my biggest struggle has been my writing goals, I seem to get interrupted in the middle or writing or have to leave the house for some reason. I take my pen and paper journal with me, but when I write in it (with the exception of my dreams) the subject is different from what I was writing about on-line or in an entry into the journal I keep on the computer.
Anyway, as I was saying, when I go to interpret my dreams I write the dream or as much of it as I can remember in my pen and paper journal. After that I say a prayer and then I meditate on what the dream might mean. I write down what I think it means in my pep and paper journal. This helps me to determine what the dream and their symbols mean to me.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Knowledge Is Power
17 Sultan 162 B.E. - February 3 - 4, 2006 A.D.
The exercise about knowledge from the Daily Power Word is to look at knowledge through the eyes of another. How do you look at knowledge through the eyes of another person? This is an intriguing exercise, but I am not sure how to go about doing this. I could read a book to do this or I could use free writing and my inner critic. Now that sounds like an interesting exercise, eventually I will try one of these exercise through the eyes of my inner critic. Today, however, I in much too good a mood to deal with my inner critic. So I will ask some questions and free-write on the question.
What is knowledge? I could answer this question from the dictionary, but instead I am simply going to start out free writing on the subject and see what I discover. First, the title for this piece comes from a phrase quoted in the introduction to the Daily Power Word exercise. Knowledge truly is power, because it reveals to us what we do not know. In fact knowing what one does not know is an important aspect of knowledge. If one is not aware of what he or she does not know then it is difficult to acquire knowledge of any type.
There are several types of knowledge. There is knowledge of ourselves this refers to knowledge of our physical bodies as well as knowledge of our souls (spirits). There is knowledge of technological items, material items, scientific theories and natural processes or laws. There is spiritual knowledge and there is religious knowledge. Then there is the knowledge of God. Usually when we refer to the knowledge of God we are talking about human knowledge about God. However, God has knowledge about humanity and indeed about all of creation. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He, (it is interesting that we humans refer to God as He when God is an unknowable spiritual essence that neither ascends into or out of material existence and does not have gender as we humans know it) God, knows us better than we know ourselves. God knows our limits and is always pushing us to find those limits for ourselves. We humans think we know our limits, but unless we are tested we do not know our limits or even what we are capable of achieving.
What is knowledge of God? We know God through the Prophets or Manifestations (those who reflect the attributes of God to humanity). Religions teach us about God and we learn about God through prayer, meditation upon the sacred writing and by knowing our own selves. Human beings have the ability to reflect all the attributes of God, that one reason we encounter test. Once the mirror of our souls are cleaned of the dust and the dross of material desires they are capable of reflecting the attributes of God to humanity and to the rest of the universe. Tests and difficulties help us to know ourselves and when we learn about ourselves; about the attributes of God within and are capable of reflecting those attributes then we have learned something or gained some knowledge about God. When we know God’s Manifestations, Prophets or Messengers (call the revealers of God which ever of those you want) then we know God. One of the reason an individual human is born into the world of mater is to know, love and worship God. The purpose of humanity in general, of the entire human race, is to carry forward an ever advancing civilization. Without knowledge humanity can not carry on an ever advancing civilization.
Knowledge Is Power
The exercise about knowledge from the Daily Power Word is to look at knowledge through the eyes of another. How do you look at knowledge through the eyes of another person? This is an intriguing exercise, but I am not sure how to go about doing this. I could read a book to do this or I could use free writing and my inner critic. Now that sounds like an interesting exercise, eventually I will try one of these exercise through the eyes of my inner critic. Today, however, I in much too good a mood to deal with my inner critic. So I will ask some questions and free-write on the question.
What is knowledge? I could answer this question from the dictionary, but instead I am simply going to start out free writing on the subject and see what I discover. First, the title for this piece comes from a phrase quoted in the introduction to the Daily Power Word exercise. Knowledge truly is power, because it reveals to us what we do not know. In fact knowing what one does not know is an important aspect of knowledge. If one is not aware of what he or she does not know then it is difficult to acquire knowledge of any type.
There are several types of knowledge. There is knowledge of ourselves this refers to knowledge of our physical bodies as well as knowledge of our souls (spirits). There is knowledge of technological items, material items, scientific theories and natural processes or laws. There is spiritual knowledge and there is religious knowledge. Then there is the knowledge of God. Usually when we refer to the knowledge of God we are talking about human knowledge about God. However, God has knowledge about humanity and indeed about all of creation. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He, (it is interesting that we humans refer to God as He when God is an unknowable spiritual essence that neither ascends into or out of material existence and does not have gender as we humans know it) God, knows us better than we know ourselves. God knows our limits and is always pushing us to find those limits for ourselves. We humans think we know our limits, but unless we are tested we do not know our limits or even what we are capable of achieving.
What is knowledge of God? We know God through the Prophets or Manifestations (those who reflect the attributes of God to humanity). Religions teach us about God and we learn about God through prayer, meditation upon the sacred writing and by knowing our own selves. Human beings have the ability to reflect all the attributes of God, that one reason we encounter test. Once the mirror of our souls are cleaned of the dust and the dross of material desires they are capable of reflecting the attributes of God to humanity and to the rest of the universe. Tests and difficulties help us to know ourselves and when we learn about ourselves; about the attributes of God within and are capable of reflecting those attributes then we have learned something or gained some knowledge about God. When we know God’s Manifestations, Prophets or Messengers (call the revealers of God which ever of those you want) then we know God. One of the reason an individual human is born into the world of mater is to know, love and worship God. The purpose of humanity in general, of the entire human race, is to carry forward an ever advancing civilization. Without knowledge humanity can not carry on an ever advancing civilization.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Free-Writing
15 Sultan 162 B.E. - February 1 - 2, 2006
NOTE: The following was an exercise in free-writing and was type into a word document in that way. I haven’t rewritten it yet, this is how it was originally written.
Free-Writing
I have discovered free-writing. Free-writing is simply sitting down at a computer or with a pen and journal and beginning to write. You don’t have to have a subject all you have to do is write. In free-writing you don’t have to worry about spelling (with a computer you don’t have to worry about spelling any way, because as long as you spell the word phonetically the computer‘s spell check will assist) you just write. In free-writing you don’t even have to begin with a subject, just start writing. Describe the day, the weather, the way you feel. In free-writing you don’t have to worry about grammar all you have to do is write. In free-writing you can begin with a prompt, or a scripture verse or a thought and then write. In free-writing you don’t have to worry about whether or not what you write makes sense, just write or type as fast as you can. Free-writing is the first draft of a longer piece. Free-writing is finding the part of the subject you want to discuss in an essay. Free-writing can be used to begin a story or a poem. Free-writing is just writing, rambling on and on across the page until you’ve filled the page or you’ve written the subject your working on out. Free-writing is a marvelous exercise, pick a subject and start writing. Free-writing can be timed or it can be done while you are waiting for someone.
There are some rules to free writing. For example when you start to write don’t go back and change what you’ve written. Remember this is a first draft, you are only trying to find a slant on the subject or write out a problem facing you. If you write fast enough and long enough you will find a solution. Free-writing is not procrastination, in fact it can help you over come procrastination by helping you focus on the subject, on the problem, on the situation. Time you free writing get a timer, an egg time and set it for ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes or an hour and then begin to write. You will of course ramble, the mind moves at the speed of thought - that is faster than anyone can type. Remember with free-writing you don’t have to worry about spelling. Free writing is just writing see below for some interesting prompts to free write about.
In the beginning … (we all know where this came from) start each sentence with this phrase and set the timer for about ten or fifteen minutes.
The Origin of the species … (another interesting prompt) don’t worry if what you write has nothing to do with the theory of evolution or any other scientific theory. You are free-writing this has to do with what you think. If you opinion differs from what others think about The Origin of The Species that is alright.
How is that working for you? (thank you Dr. Phil) Start each paragraph with How is that working for you? Then answer the question by free-writing.
One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (thank you Iyanla Vanzant). You see you can use the title of a book or find a poem you like and use the title or a line from the poem to free write on (or is it about).
When you first start free writing start at ten minutes and then work up from there (unless you have more time). Free writing is an exercise to can squeeze into a busy day without much trouble. It doesn’t matter what room you are in or what you are doing when you are free-writing. If you use a pen and paper journal to free write you may want to retype what you’ve written before your hand writing gets cold. (I know when I free write in a pen and paper journal and I let it lay several days, sometimes I can’t read my own cold writing or figure out my creative spelling.) OK, free writing (like almost everything else in life) has its disadvantages.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)